# Child protogonists in novels meant for adults?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-protogonists-in-novels-meant-for-adults/583220
**Category:** Cafe Society
**Created:** [May 25, 2011, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-protogonists-in-novels-meant-for-adults/583220 "2011-05-25T23:02:41Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 2
### Author:  [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)
#### Post date: [May 26, 2011, 1:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-protogonists-in-novels-meant-for-adults/583220/21 "2011-05-26T13:21:32Z")
A number of Mary Renault’s books - _The Persian Boy_ in particular, but _Fire From Heaven_, and _The King Must Die_ probably qualify too.
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### Author:  [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)
#### Post date: [May 26, 2011, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-protogonists-in-novels-meant-for-adults/583220/22 "2011-05-26T13:40:24Z")
> [@elfkin477](#):
>
> because they were [written for children](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/His_Dark_Materials).
OK - marketed as YA with the author expecting adult interest. I missed that. It wasn’t in the YA section at the library.
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### Author:  [@PeskiPiksi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PeskiPiksi)
#### Post date: [May 26, 2011, 1:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-protogonists-in-novels-meant-for-adults/583220/23 "2011-05-26T13:54:26Z")
How about another King novel…_IT_. Seven main characters, who are all children for at least half of the story. King’s good at writing kids, I think.
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### Author:  [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)
#### Post date: [May 26, 2011, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-protogonists-in-novels-meant-for-adults/583220/24 "2011-05-26T14:23:35Z")
:smack:
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### Author:  [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)
#### Post date: [May 26, 2011, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-protogonists-in-novels-meant-for-adults/583220/25 "2011-05-26T14:29:02Z")
Juliet in Shakespeare’s _Romeo and Juliet_?
Or how about Pug and Tomas in Feist’s _Magician_?
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### Author:  [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)
#### Post date: [May 26, 2011, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-protogonists-in-novels-meant-for-adults/583220/26 "2011-05-26T14:34:05Z")
> [@PeskiPiksi](#):
>
> How about another King novel…_IT_. Seven main characters, who are all children for at least half of the story. King’s good at writing kids, I think.
Also _The Body_. Definitely a classic.
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### Author:  [@stpauler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stpauler)
#### Post date: [May 26, 2011, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-protogonists-in-novels-meant-for-adults/583220/27 "2011-05-26T14:51:41Z")
[_Misfortune_-](http://www.amazon.com/Misfortune-Novel-Wesley-Stace/dp/B000Y8U5K8/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1306420417&sr=8-4)Wesley Stace
> [@](#):
>
> One of the most auspicious debuts of recent years, Wesley Stace’s Misfortune follows the rise, fall, and triumphant return of Rose Old, a foundling rescued from a London garbage heap in 1820 by the richest man in Britain. Lord Geoffroy Loveall, whose character has been shaped by perpetual mourning for a sister who died in childhood, seizes on the infant as a replacement for his beloved sister. With the help of trusted servants, he arranges for the child to be lovingly brought up at his ancestral mansion, Loveall Hall–to all appearances, his biological daughter and unhoped-for heir. No matter that the baby is not a girl.
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### Author:  [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)
#### Post date: [May 26, 2011, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-protogonists-in-novels-meant-for-adults/583220/28 "2011-05-26T14:54:15Z")
> [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](#):
>
> Paul Atreides (Muad’Dib) in **Dune**.
And his kids, two books later.
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### Author:  [@Scarlett67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scarlett67)
#### Post date: [May 26, 2011, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-protogonists-in-novels-meant-for-adults/583220/29 "2011-05-26T15:34:38Z")
Rynn Jacobs, _The Little Girl Who Lives Down the Lane_ (excellent book, adequate movie)
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### Author:  [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)
#### Post date: [May 26, 2011, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-protogonists-in-novels-meant-for-adults/583220/30 "2011-05-26T16:27:21Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#):
>
> Also _The Body_. Definitely a classic.
And _The Shining_ and to some extent _Salem’s Lot_. King does like to use young protagonists.
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### Author:  [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)
#### Post date: [May 26, 2011, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-protogonists-in-novels-meant-for-adults/583220/31 "2011-05-26T16:29:37Z")
Since my mind’s on it, many of the characters in the **A Song of Ice and Fire** series, by George R. R. Martin. The books are split up into short chapters with each following one protagonist’s point of view for a while. In the first book, **A Game of Thrones** , there are eight various POVs after the prologue, five of which (Sansa, Arya, Bran, Jon Snow, and Daenerys) are children, and remain so since the book spans just a few months. Sansa is 11, Arya is 8 I think, Bran is 7, I believe Jon was 14, and Daenerys was 13.
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### Author:  [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)
#### Post date: [May 26, 2011, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-protogonists-in-novels-meant-for-adults/583220/32 "2011-05-26T16:43:15Z")
John Wheelwright (the narrator) and Owen Meany in John Irving’s _A Prayer for Owen Meany_.
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### Author:  [@Satchmo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Satchmo)
#### Post date: [May 26, 2011, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-protogonists-in-novels-meant-for-adults/583220/33 "2011-05-26T17:14:24Z")
> [@Annie-Xmas](#):
>
> I came in to say this. It’s odd that it’s one of King’s lesser known and finest works.
>
> And I’m surprised nobody has mentioned **Lord of the Flies**. No adults in the whole tale.
Darn you **Annie**!
I was going to post **Lord of the Flies**.
😉
Now I can’t think of another one. I will say many of Heinlein’s ‘juvenile’ books have children as protagonists and I believe there could be debate about whether they were actually written for children or not.
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### Author:  [@williambaskerville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/williambaskerville)
#### Post date: [May 26, 2011, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-protogonists-in-novels-meant-for-adults/583220/34 "2011-05-26T17:27:55Z")
Since I’ve just finished it, Jack in Emma Donoghue’s “Room”.
That’s especially apposite because the book isn’t just written from Jack’s viewpoint, it’s written in the first person, in his voice.
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### Author:  [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)
#### Post date: [May 26, 2011, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-protogonists-in-novels-meant-for-adults/583220/35 "2011-05-26T17:29:03Z")
King again: the novella (and film) **Stand by Me**.
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### Author:  [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)
#### Post date: [May 26, 2011, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-protogonists-in-novels-meant-for-adults/583220/36 "2011-05-26T17:33:11Z")
> [@Rhythmdvl](#):
>
> King again: the novella (and film) **Stand by Me**.
**Annie** mentioned it above – the novel was called _The Body_.
Parts of _The Dark Tower_ series are told from Jake’s point of view.
I don’t remember how old Todd was at the beginning of _Apt Pupil_, but I think he was in middle school.
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### Author:  [@Lo-Slung\_Denim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lo-Slung_Denim)
#### Post date: [May 26, 2011, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-protogonists-in-novels-meant-for-adults/583220/37 "2011-05-26T17:38:27Z")
**Mister Pip** by Lloyd Jones has a teenage narrator, Matilda.
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### Author:  [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)
#### Post date: [May 26, 2011, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-protogonists-in-novels-meant-for-adults/583220/38 "2011-05-26T17:57:53Z")
Chaim Potek’s good book _The Chosen_ and his absolute masterpiece _My Name is Asher Lev_. The former is told from the point of view of a Jewish boy as he grows up in the 1940’s, aging from 15-to-18. The latter is told by a Jewish male from age 4-to-early twenties, with a gift for art.
Both books have sequels–The Promise and The Gift of Asher Lev.
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### Author:  [@choie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/choie)
#### Post date: [May 26, 2011, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-protogonists-in-novels-meant-for-adults/583220/39 "2011-05-26T18:37:24Z")
Much of Betty Smith’s brilliant, beautiful _A Tree Grows in Brooklyn_ is told from the perspective of young Francie Nolan, whom we see age from 12 - 18ish, with flashbacks of her even younger years, as she grows up in impoverished early 19th century Williamsburg (Brooklyn). With plots involving bigamy, rape, abortion, war, harsh poverty, alcoholism, sickness and death, I don’t think it’s a book primarily for kids.
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### Author:  [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)
#### Post date: [May 26, 2011, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/child-protogonists-in-novels-meant-for-adults/583220/40 "2011-05-26T19:06:52Z")
::cough:: 20th. The story is just winding down when boom, Francie’s sitting at her desk going :eek: at a headline that says WAR and nothing else. That’d be the Great War, with guys going off to fight ☹ and job opportunities opening up for women. 🆒
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